Chad Johnson's World Championship Journal
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| Chad Johnson |
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Goaltender Chad Johnson, who split his 2009-10 rookie professional season between the Rangers and Hartford of the American Hockey League, was a member of Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship tournament in Germany. Johnson played in five games with the Blueshirts and 47 with the Wolf Pack this past season after a standout college career at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
Originally drafted by Pittsburgh in 2006, Johnson was traded to the Rangers during the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and showed remarkable poise throughout his rookie year. He picked up his first NHL victory with 34 saves in an impressive 3-1 victory at Colorado on Jan. 31.
The Calgary, Alberta, native, who turns 24 in June, received a tremendous honor when Team Canada General Manager Mark Messier added him to the Canadian World Championship roster. As Special Assistant to Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather, Messier certainly understood what Johnson would bring to his team. Johnson, who has said he learned a lot from Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist during his first weeks in the NHL, shared Canada's goaltending duties with St. Louis' Chris Mason.
This was Johnson's first time at a major international men's tournament, and he was kind enough to share his experiences with readers here on newyorkrangers.com.
Final Post: May 22, 2010
Two days have passed since our final game against Russia. Unfortunately, we lost against Russia and were eliminated from the World Championship tournament.
The game was really intense, and a pretty well-played game by both teams. Russia scored on a couple of their many power plays, and that was the difference.
It's really disappointing for everyone who was a part of this team, because our goal was to win gold and nothing less, so to not achieve gold is disappointing. But, personally, I had a great experience being a part of Team Canada and the Hockey Canada group.
I have met so many great people -- from my teammates to the coaching staff, trainers and lot of other people who are part of Hockey Canada. I want to thank them for the opportunity to be part of this special group.
I also want to thank the Rangers fans and anyone else for following my journal here. I hope everyone enjoyed my thoughts along the way.
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